Massachusetts residents have access to a host of unique resources and assistance in their state. You can establish parentage for your child if both parents sign a form called the Voluntary Acknowledgment of Parentage.This is called acknowledging parentage. A stepbystep overview of a patent application and maintenance process. The five stages of a patent process. Hepatopetal denotes flow of blood towards the liver, which is the normal direction of blood flow through the portal vein. PYLEPHLEBITIS (suppurative inflammation of the wall of the portal vein associated with thrombosis) is a rare entity with a high mortality rate. This tutorial will focus on patents and the process for securing a patent in the U.S. First, let's consider why we have a patent system? Doppler ultrasound showed patent hepatic vasculature, a large splenorenal shunt, and hepatopedal flow in the portal vein. Balloon maceration shows patent central SMV and portal veins (PVs) with hepatopetal flow.